Thursday, September 24^th 2009

• The meeting began with introductions of the Member of the Parent Alliance Board. The member are as follows:
  • Chairperson- Mitch Englander
  • Chairperson elect- Laura McKone
  • COT- Andrea Garza
  • Treasurer- Annamarie Cole
  • Ways and Means- Jeff Kirchmaier
  • Secretary- Lauren Adler
  • Teacher Rep- Les Stickles
  • Director of Operations- Dave Weisman

• General Introductions were given.
• The Purpose Statement of the Parent Alliance was read out loud. This can be found in the Parent Alliance Handbook which is found on line at the Santa Barbara Charter School website.
• The fundraising efforts of the Parent Alliance were discussed.
• There is a fundraising calendar that has been approved for the year and it is also available on the school website.
• One of the main school fundraisers is the school Auction. It will take place in February. A work group was formed to start planning the auction. Anyone interested in being on that work group should contact Laura McKone at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
• There was discussion on whether or not there should be an on-line component to the auction. Ultimately the auction work group will make that decision after more information is gathered.
• Luci Flint has organized flea markets at the school every month. The flea market is held on the third Saturday of every month. The next one will be on October 17^th. The flea markets have started out small but are growing.
• Luci Flint has also organized the school move-a-thon for the past few years. She is looking for a volunteer to take this over. The move-a-thon raised about $16,000 last year and Luci Flint believes it could raise a lot more with the help of the classroom coordinators. This event will take place in May.
• The Axxess book fundraiser is about to begin. There needs to be posters put up to advertize this. The Axxess books could be sold at the next Flea market.
• The group spent sometime discussing the pros and cons of sending out an annual appeal for donations to the school community. This has been done in the past.
• The budget process of Santa Barbara Charter School was briefly described by Wendy Kanter. The Circle of Trustees makes financial decisions for the school. The Parent Alliance makes recommendations to the Circle of Trustees. A survey of budget priorities goes out to all families in the spring.
• The Group also discussed the need for better communication of the school fundraising goals and how families can help out. Ways to put visual goals for fundraising efforts on the school website were discussed.
• Tracy Greganti and Dave Weisman are working on producing a school directory and it should be available soon.
• Claudia Tyler will proceed with the after school enrichment program.
• The issue of setting up a Porto-potty outside the primary classroom was discussed. Right now it is a very long way for these young students to go to use the bathroom. More information on this will be gathered and it will be discussed at the next Parent Alliance meeting on October 15^th. Approval is not needed from the Parent Alliance. Funding may come from the PA, but not necessarily.
• There was a general theme at the end of the meeting that a goal of the Parent Alliance should be to increase communication at Santa Barbara Charter School on all issues.